Tamannaah Bhatia has been a steady presence in Indian cinema for years, with a strong foothold in the South film industry. She’s worked across languages, genres, and roles. But her recent appearances in Bollywood point to a growing trend — she’s being typecast, largely as the glamour quotient or the performer of high-energy item numbers.

Her latest project, The Ba*ds of Bollywood, features her in Nasha, a flashy, high-production song directed by Farah Khan. The buzz is real, and Tamannaah undeniably owns the screen. Before that, she appeared in Stree 2 for a special number Raat Ka Nasha. In Vedaa, she had a limited side role. Her OTT outings — Lust Stories 2 and Sikandar Ka Muqaddar on Netflix, and Do You Wanna Partner on Prime Video — have done little to shift the narrative.

What emerges is a clear pattern. Instead of exploring the breadth of her capabilities, Bollywood seems content slotting her into short, flashy appearances that add visual value but little substance.

It’s disappointing, because Tamannaah has shown she can do more. In the South, she has played lead roles with emotional weight, comic timing, and dramatic depth. She has been part of commercial successes as well as performance-driven films. But in Bollywood, the scope seems narrower.

Being cast repeatedly in item numbers or as a passing presence in a larger male-driven story is a form of typecasting — one that can quickly limit an actor’s trajectory. It flattens range into a stereotype. And in Tamannaah’s case, it reduces a skilled performer to just a visual element.

This isn’t about dismissing the value of dance numbers or glamour roles. There’s a place for that. But when that becomes the default, especially for someone capable of more, it’s worth questioning the casting choices.

Tamannaah doesn’t need reinvention — she needs better roles. Stronger scripts. Real characters. Hindi cinema would benefit from using her talent more thoughtfully, rather than confining her to fleeting appearances.

Because the risk isn’t that audiences won’t notice her — it’s that they’ll stop expecting more.